For my plans are not your plans...

I can't tell you how many times I have learned this lesson over the last three years and today I am grateful. Today was not at all the day I expected at the beginning of the week. Niko came home from church last night with a poopy diaper which had exacerbated what was already a painful case of diaper rash. We changed him before we left him in the nursery and warned them about his rash, but with a room full of kids it can be hard to be sure the kiddos get changed promptly and by the time we were getting him ready for bed he had open sores on his poor little bottom. Needless to say we had a rough time getting him to bed and thought that Monty should take a sick day since it was taking two of us to do diaper changes. I am so glad he was home! The day went much better for Niko than predicted but it was wonderful to have him home for a day.

Last week we invited two families with little ones over for supper tonight so Monty and I spent the day cleaning, cooking.and getting ready for a house full of friends and toddlers. Little did we know the spritz of rain when we were out running errands in the morning would cause icy power outages in the late afternoon. Fifteen minutes before we were to have a house full of people the flickers we had been experiencing for over an hour turned into more than half an hour of no heat and no power. We were just about to head to the heated and running car to go to Monty' s parents' for the night when it came back on. Our dinner for friends had been canceled earlier and we had a kitchen full of food in progress so we invited Monty' s family for supper. It worked out fine but was not at all what we expected. The beautifully set table, penne with kale and sausage, fresh Italian olive oil bread, and skillet chocolate chip cookie were well used but for unexpected guests.

It was a great day but not the one I expected when I woke up this morning. We enjoyed some wonderful family time and we'll reschedule the missed dinner for another day. I am grateful for lessons in flexibility that have helped me adapt as needed on days like today. It's a lesson I have learned over and over on my journey of motherhood and which I expect I will continue to learn. Recipes for the bread and pasta to come!